Monday, August 23, 2010

George Laird views and ideas becoming very popular at the moment, Glasgow Herald sticks toe in drug legalisation debate and Glasgow MSP uses my idea














Dear All

It seems that the Glasgow Herald has come round to the George Laird view that legalisation of the drugs must happen.

For decades there has been a phoney war on drugs which has achieved nothing and been a financial black hole which is draining resources from others who have a more pressing need.

The results have been poor and those at the bottom of society have lost out, now opinion is shifting towards what is the lesser of two evils, like drink and tobacco, legalisation offers many solutions which until now have been unthinkable by politicians.

If politicians take the next step forward, then society can benefit; the drugs industry is worth £3.5 billion a year in Scotland.

It is an untapped sea of finance currently controlled by criminals but like any market, it can be bankrupted and wrestled away from them.

The first step politically is the legalisation of Cannabis in Scotland.

We have had the announcement of a record number of drug-related deaths in Grampian last week.

Could these people have been saved if they hadn’t been driven underground?

Peter McCann, chairman of the Castle Craig Hospital for alcoholism and drug addiction, said:

“there must now be a total rethink” of drug treatment in Scotland.

The bandwagon effect towards legalisation has started and can only gain momentum as more and more people join the call.

Now, we need Government to commission a survey on what would be the impact of legalisation across the board and the financial benefit to the state.

There is so much that could be done if the reservoir of drugs cash could be funnelled to the state to help fund the NHS, Police, recreational facilities to keep kids safe.

Legalisation doesn’t equal approval in the same way that alcohol and tobacco although legal don’t either.It’s time to be smart on crime and bankrupt the drugs market.

I must be saying the right things because recently I came across an article written by a Glasgow MSP using an idea which I have been promoting for some time about reaching out to better engage the community.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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